IPL big push to e-tailing

Cheering is about shouting out in support and adorning team merchandise. To grab their favourite team merchandise, fans are logging onto internet websites. As a result, e-tailing has received a spectacular thrust. Read on for details

Neha Malhotra

IPL has become a rage among fans and they all want to show their support for their favourite teams. For this reason, fans are buying team merchandise through online purchases. Buying online is an easy way for fans to lay hands on their favourite team merchandise. Merchandise as a revenue tool, tops the list of revenue generation techniques.

Infibeam.com is another place in the cyber space where the fans can buy their favourite team merchandise. GCV (Global Cricket Ventures Limited) is the exclusive licensee for mobile and broadcast cricket rights. GCV owns the rights to websites like www.cricket.com, www.willow.tv- the key destination for viewing live coverage for cricket and the official IPL website www.iplt20.com.

Geographical sales

Mumbai tops the charts for the maximum sale of merchandise to eBay, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai and Delhi follow close. Though Mumbai brings in the maximum sales, metros are not the only place where the merchandise is a hit. Tirupur, Bhubaneswar, Mysore, Surat, Dharmapuri and Raichur are a few cities where purchase of IPL merchandise is on a roll.

IPL is a rage not just in India but the world over. Merchandise sales as a result have crossed borders and people abroad are also buying the IPL merchandise. Deepa Thomas, Senior Manager – Pop Culture, eBay India tells, “The response from the customers has been overwhelming from fans not just in India but also in Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, UAE, UK, & USA.” According to eBay, purchasing of merchandise in UK stands at 38 per cent, 23 per cent for USA, and 21 per cent for Australia. Countries like UAE, Canada, Kazakhstan, Germany, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Sri Lanka make up for the rest of the pie.

Fan interest can be seen through a unique barometer called ‘Battle of the Fans’ that has been running on the eBay India website. The eBay Battle of the Fans is a barometer which measures the popularity of an IPL team by the quantity of team merchandise bought by fans on eBay where all eight teams are contenders.

Future predictions

IPL merchandise sales online have sure set the ball rolling for internet purchasing as well. In the coming years, we can expect a rise in the sales being made online. Buying before going to a match and not waiting in queues outside stadiums is what is going to aid online purchasing.